


Beautifully Trapped

by EvanHarr98



Series: Songfic Series [23]
Category: Hermitcraft RPF
Genre: Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Inspired This, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Freeform, Happy Ending, M/M, Mumbo and Grian are toys, Toys, yes - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-29
Updated: 2020-05-29
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:35:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,238
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24445183
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EvanHarr98/pseuds/EvanHarr98
Summary: Stuck. Imprisoned, in a wooden casing, two toys were unknowingly starcrossed lovers. How do they work together to escape such elegant bindings?(This is an original story but using the Minecraft characters from Hermitcraft. This story contains the Minecraft personas only. I do not ship the real people)
Relationships: Grian/Mumbo Jumbo
Series: Songfic Series [23]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1711198
Comments: 18
Kudos: 63





	Beautifully Trapped

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SKblind](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SKblind/gifts).



> Hey all, I hope you enjoy this new oneshot, this story was inspired by my dear friend, SKblind. She sang 'Doll On A Music Box' to my whilst we were working on our collab fic - Spirals of Want and Pain. 
> 
> If you haven't already, please check it out :D It would mean so much to me.
> 
> Stay safe, and happy reading!

Huffing and bustling through his old-timey style toy shop, Cub ran his fingers through his beard, combing the straggly strands straight as he fidgeted on the spot, eyes flicking over his last-minute preparations for his granddaughter. It had been all arranged so meticulously. Each one of her presents had been laid out, ready for her to open in the morning, all except her music box and string puppet.

Cub heaved a sigh before giving a distracted nod of approval. He hadn’t the time to wrap the last two gifts, he had to make it for her birthday dinner, he couldn’t be late, couldn’t miss yet another one of her special days. After all, she was turning ten this year. Already a decade old and he had missed several of her birthdays. 

Cub reached for the leather apron that hung around his neck and peeled it off, hanging it on the brass hook that was fixed to the wall beside the door. He swiped his palm across his shining bald head and gave a shaking huff, his nerves vibrated through him straight to his core, alighting in his heart like a jackrabbit pounding the earth with its hind legs. He glanced to the old clock that hung high above the shop front window, his eyes doubled in size, stretching in diameter to that of saucers. He hadn’t the time to waste. He had to be there in five minutes! Five minutes! Cub grumbled to himself, frustrated at his magnificent gift of spending his time on almost nothing. He plucked the bowler hat from the hook beside his apron and slapped it on his head before giving another distant huff and twisting on his heel, staggering through the door and locking it behind him. 

The toy shop was bathed in darkness, held together by the distinct viscous shadows that loomed ever presently against the walls and floor. It was silent, all except for the incessant ticking from the clock as it counted down the time. 

High above the cobblestone streets, a star, a lingering entity winked down on that little German toy shop, blessing it with a secret gift. 

Breaking the silence of the shop, a rhythmic twisting of a music box crank cracked through the night, it’s cogs clicked against metal teeth as the gears prepared to turn. 

Atop the colourful box was a man, his skin so pale that it almost stood translucent, his cheeks dusted with a rosy pink paint, his hair elegantly combed into place and glossy with the copious slatherings of polish that Cub had drizzled atop the wooden raven locks. He donned an almost perfectly black crop top that ended just before his midriff, exposing the flat expanses of his toned belly, hung low on his waist was a matching black skirt that ended at his mid-thigh. Painted across the chest of the shirt was a pretty little sketch of a pile of red dust. 

The key of the music box came to an abrupt stop, leaving a suspenseful pause that rang out louder than the silence that had originally encompassed the shop. Only a few seconds had passed before the sound of soft tinkling chimed through the store as the comb’s teeth pinged off the pin drum. An almost angelic melody rang through the toy store, bathing the darkness with an innocent light, a spot that shone directly down on the doll as he slowly spun atop his perch. 

“What do you see? You people gazing at me? You see a doll on a music box that’s wound by a key.” His voice rang out alongside the chiming tunes, it elegantly flowed from his wooden lungs, a beautiful tone that pricked a hole in the shade of reality, fixing himself in place, driving a hold for himself. His limbs slowly cracked and clicked into place, forced to perform a jerking dance. 

“How can you tell? I’m under a spell. I’m waiting for loves first kiss.” He continued in his forced jolting movements, his thin frame fought against them, trying with all his might to break free, but the pull of the mechanisms that Cub had installed inside him won the struggle for dominance. His limbs fell limp as he spun on the spot, slowly turning to face a set of small mirrors. 

His eyes widened at the sight of himself, flicking across his features, brows almost meeting his hairline at the horrific surprise he’d been dealt. 

“You cannot see, how much I long to be free. Turning around on this music box that’s wound by a key.”

What a cruel punishment? To be gifted with the grace of consciousness and free thought, only to be trapped in one spot, held together by pins and glue. 

How could he live with such a reality? Only ever allowed to sing when the crank at the bottom of his box was turned by grubby little fingers. A gleaming smile of a child boring into him, staring at him, wishing he could do more, sing something different. Well, dear child, he too wished he could.

“Yearning. Yearning. While I’m turning around and around.” At the last line, his luscious voice came to a bittersweet end, leaving him motionless and trapped as he froze in place.

A lonely stray tear trickled from his painted eyes, slipping across the wood of his pale cheek only to drip to the top of the box. Not even such a human-like part of himself could escape its confines. 

Mumbo wished he could sob, wished he could close his eyes.  _ Anything! _

_ Life!  _

_ Thought!  _

_ Magic!  _

_ Fun!  _

The words scrambled through Grian’s head as he jumped up from his place, huddled on the ground. 

His bright red shirt hung from his mechanical body, his grey trousers creased from where he’d been kept, high on the shelf. Blond straggly rope-like curls blustered into his face, tickling at his brow. 

He pushed them back with a stiff hand before he ambled forward. Wincing, he struggled to skid to a stop, his ungainly body still not used to the act of free movement. He stared at the edge of the ledge and peered down to the floor below. He was certain that if he lept from that height, he’d clatter down and shatter to splinters. Although he wouldn’t feel the physical pain, his sudden gift of life seemed too precious to waste on such a silly decision. 

Grian glanced about himself before his eyes fell on a metal coiled slinky. His wooden lips curled into a thoughtful smirk as he clobbered over to it, his feet slapping against the ground as he tried to maintain his balance. 

Heaving with exertion, he dropped down to his knees, clasping at the end of the spring. He wound it around the decorative metal shelf holder and held the tale of the spring in the palms of his solid hands. He had to grip it in order for his plan to work. 

His brow furrowed as he tried to flex his rigid fingers. No luck. He grit his teeth and clenched his eyes shut, a strangled cry pulled from his throat as his digits curled in on themselves, the clue that kept them so still slowly cracked and broke, allowing them to move more freely. 

Grian beamed to himself, as his fingers gripped at the slinky. He gave one last glance over the edge of the shelf before he backed up several paces and sprinted, hurling himself off of his ledge.

The slinky twanged and squeaked as it was stretched out, slinging him back and forth like a man on a bungee. Grian clung to the metal coil, his eyes desperately searching for a safe space to land. 

It would have been a better idea if he’d scoped out his surroundings prior to leaping from his cliff-like place atop the high mantlepiece. 

_ There!  _

Only a few toy car lengths ahead of him, Grian could spot a table. It wasn’t the floor, but it was better than his current position, hanging almost an entire giant teddy bear above the floor. 

He swung his legs back and forth, gaining momentum. The spring that held him panged and winced as it was bent and stretched. 

_ Just a little bit more… And… Yes! _

Grian flung himself forward, releasing the spring. He clenched his shut and prayed that the next thing he felt was the timber of the workbench. 

The spring recoiled and bounced from its bindings on the shelf, colliding with the planks of the floor below just as Grian’s body clattered against the tabletop. 

He made it! 

A wide grin spread across his cheeks as waves of excitement flooded through him, singing high pitched songs in his chest. He gave a silly floppy dance at his achievement before his eyes caught on something brightly coloured. 

He stopped. 

Held in place as he stared in awe at the thing before him. His brow furrowed as he clattered his wooden feet forward, ambling closer to the thing. 

As he stepped to the front of it, he saw that it was a vibrantly painted music box, three reflective panes of glass stood behind it and atop the stage was possibly the most beautiful creature that Grian had ever seen. 

Serene. Charming. Perfect. What a gorgeous toy. How had he never seen this magnificent man before? Grian was certain that he’d been able to see everything that the toy shop had to offer from his ledge. Apparently not.

His eyes narrowed as he surveyed the figure, hoping beyond hope that dancer had been blessed with the same life force as himself. 

Stoic. Cold, hard, wood. Polished to perfection. Shining brightly in the orange glow of the street lamps that glistened through the window. Still and unmoving, the toy remained in position. Grian’s lip poked out in a soft pout as his shoulders fell, maybe it had been too good to be true. 

Just as he moved to turn away from the doll atop the music box, he caught a flicker of movement. His eyes had moved! Only a fraction, but they had. Grian’s brows rose on his forehead as he stumbled closer, his movements still clumsy and uncoordinated, he came to a wobbling stop in front of the magical being. 

“H-Hello?” He stuttered out, peering up at the angular face, the toy’s moustache curled elegantly atop his lips and Grian could barely pull his gaze from it until he saw those green eyes move once again. They jerked back and forth, pointing. But at what? 

Grian stepped back and scanned the space below the doll, he almost thought that he’d been imagining the entire thing before his eyes locked on a shimmering brass key that poked out from its hole. He hummed in understanding as he bent over and twisted it in its confines, causing the cogs to click into position, readying to be released. 

Sweet music began to shimmer from within the box as the dancer slowly moved to its thrum. 

“What do you see?” The moustached man sang. 

The words elicited a strange fluttering in Grian’s chest, he could barely contain it. His brows furrowed in frightened confusion as he slowly parted his lips. Joining the serenading tones of the other, his own voice burst out of him, a song that he hadn’t known he could sing.

“Truly scrumptious!”

“You people, gazing at me…” 

“You’re truly, truly scrumptious.”

“You see a doll on a music box that’s.”

“Scrumptious as a cherry…”

“Wound by a key.”

“Peach parfait.”

The two spoke to each other in their music, the sweet soft drawls resonated from within their twin wooden chests. 

Mumbo’s elegant sorrowful song, laced with an intricate sadness paired with the longing of Grian’s need, his want for the other. It was magical, ethereal, innocently beautiful. 

“P-Please…” Mumbo’s voice broke from its tune. His lips latched around these new words, sounds that he had never been able to make before. “H-Help me.” He begged softly. 

Grian stood before the other, his eyes wide and panicked. His mind whirred with rapid thoughts. Fear coiling around his heart like a malignant serpent. 

“How?” He begged.

“How can you tell? I’m under a spell. I’m waiting for love’s first kiss…” Mumbo hummed out the instruction in the only way he knew how, he just prayed that Grian would hear him, understand him and take action. 

_ Please, please let him understand! _

Mumbo’s eyes fell shut as his movements slowly started to fade, a sluggishness took over his body as he was slowly fading back to the frozen position of before. 

_ No. No. No. Please, no! Please, god, let him understand! Please! Oh, my goodne… _

Mumbo’s thoughts sputtered to an end as soft lips were gently pressed to his own. So supple and gentle, tentative and caring. Life slowly flooded through him, the freedom of movement, the gift of life amplified to something outside of his toy-like prison.

Mumbo’s eyes fluttered open as he gasped out a gentle panting breath. His gaze fixed on the small toy before him. The string puppet hero, the one who came to free him, set him on course to his new life. 

He wasn’t sure what the powers that be had planned for them, but whatever it was, together they would be able to conquer it. 

Mumbo gave a soft smile as Grian’s fingers twined with his own. Hand in hand, Mumbo stepped down from his music box. 

**Author's Note:**

> If you enjoyed this, please leave a comment and kudos and let me know what you thought :D


End file.
